People Helping Nature Podcast

After 20 years leading Te Nukuao Wellington Zoo, Karen Fifield is preparing to step down as Chief Executive. So we sat down with her to ask a simple question: What has a lifetime in zoos taught her? Her answer reaches far beyond the animals that visitors see. It’s about conservation, technology, ethics, diversity in the workplace, animal welfare, storytelling, and learning to share the planet with...

One day, hearing kiwi call from your backyard could be normal again. To many New Zealanders, kiwi are our national icon - but not a bird they’ve actually seen or heard in the wild. Throughout Aotearoa, translocations are helping bring kiwi back from endangered to everywhere. In this episode, we sit down with Tineke Joustra, Operations Manager & Population Biologist at Save the Kiwi to explore...

In times of heavy rainfall, water can rush off farmland, carrying soil, nutrients and contaminants into waterways - and adding pressure downstream. In this episode, we sit down with Laura Simpson from the Mangaone West Catchment Group to learn how detainment bunds help improve water quality alongside more familiar methods such as fencing off waterways, riparian plantings and wetlands. Laura explai...

How do you mobilise a nation for nature? Most New Zealanders say nature matters to them. But care alone isn’t creating the level of action needed to protect it. In this episode, we sit down with Vicki Connor, Chief Advisor Public Affairs at the Department of Conservation, for a deep dive into DOC’s “Always Be Naturing” campaign - the public-facing platform for its wider Mobilising for Nature progr...

Australian brush-tail possums are one of the most widespread and damaging introduced pests in Aotearoa New Zealand, with an estimated ~30 million around the country. They are wreaking havoc on both our native plants and animals, and they put pressure on our ecosystems, farms, and the wider economy. Most of the time, we respond by suppressing possum numbers. But on Banks Peninsula, a different appr...

In this episode, we sit down with Helen Jamieson from The Forest Bridge Trust to explore one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most elusive and lesser-known birds: the matuku-hūrepo, or Australasian bittern. Matuku-hūrepo are large, remarkable wetland birds - apex predators, masters of camouflage, and an indicator species of wetland health. But they are also in serious trouble. With less than 1000 remaini...

Today, we have a big announcement to share. This year, between June and August, we’re setting off on an 11-week conservation storytelling adventure - cycling the entire length of the Danube River. From its source in southern Germany all the way to the Danube Delta around the Romania-Ukraine border, we’ll be riding more than 2,800km in the name of conservation. We’re calling the journey Cycling for...

Most of our relationship with the ocean happens on the surface. We sail it, fish it, surf it and photograph it. But beneath that glistening blue is a world many of us barely understand - and one that is changing fast. In this episode, we sit down with Steve Hathaway from Young Ocean Explorers to explore a powerful idea: if we help kids fall in love with the ocean, we can change how we treat it wit...

Beneath the surface, Aotearoa New Zealand’s oceans are under growing pressure. We’re taking too much good stuff out, putting too much bad stuff in, and the system is warming faster than it can adapt - with dire consequences that are often overlooked and ignored. In this episode, we sit down with Shaun Lee for an honest conversation about the state of our marine environment. Despite being an ocean...

In this episode, we sit down with Keith Woodley (MNZM) from Pūkorokoro Miranda Shorebird Centre, to unpack the incredible lifestyles of shorebirds, their habitats, and the work people are doing to protect them. Here are some of the key topics we discussed: Shorebird adaptations and why some of them migrate from the Arctic Tundra to NZ. The diverse range of shorebird habitats worldwide and in Aotea...

Zoos haven’t always looked like they do today. The role of a "good zoo" is now about playing a crucial role in conservation and advocacy for animals - locally, nationally, and globally. In this episode, we sit down with Karen Fifield, CEO of Te Nukuao Wellington Zoo and President of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), to unpack what modern zoos do to protect wildlife beyond what yo...

The smaller critters often get the least attention - yet they make up the foundations of life in our ecosystems. In Aotearoa New Zealand, invertebrates and lizards help recycle nutrients, disperse seeds, pollinate native plants, and support the whole food web. And they’re also some of the hardest animals to actually understand and protect. In this episode, we head back to the Southern Lakes Sanctu...

The Queenstown Lakes District is one of the most spectacular places on Earth - a picturesque landscape of mountains, lakes, and remote valleys where nature still feels wild. But beneath the beauty lies a conservation challenge: around 40 native species in the region are threatened or at risk of extinction. For decades, local communities have stepped up to protect these landscapes and wildlife, pow...

Most New Zealanders have never seen a bat, yet their presence signals the health of our forests. They’re our only native land mammals, quietly pollinating, eating insects, and supporting ecosystem balance. But with many areas still unmonitored and major data gaps in our understanding, their story remains half-told. In this episode, senior ecologist and bat expert Mark Roper joins us to share insig...

For many careers, purpose doesn’t extend much beyond cashing in the payslip. For Michelle Impey, she’s lived a career of purpose for 20+ years. As CEO of Save the Kiwi, Michelle has led the organisation’s evolution from a one-person funding distributor to a national team delivering measurable conservation outcomes for our national icon, the kiwi bird. In this episode, we talk candidly about buildi...

What happens when one of the Bay of Plenty’s most degraded catchments becomes a restoration success story? In the 90s, the Te Mania Catchment was a major source of sediment flowing into the Tauranga Moana, with a stream health of 2/10. The stream flowed through Pukekauri Farm, managed by Rick Burke and the Seddon family. And they decided to do something about it. They began their journey of enviro...

Nature doesn’t stop at the fence-line, so why should conservation? Throughout Aotearoa, catchment groups are changing the conservation narrative. Farmers, foresters, iwi and communities are working together at landscape scale - proving that when landowners are given structure and support, they become powerful custodians of nature. The results ripple well beyond any single farm gate. From 6,000-hec...

When a child says, “Mum, I did something to save the planet,” something shifts - not just in the home, but throughout the local community. In this episode, we’re joined by Sally Clegg from Trees for Survival, a long-running, school-based programme that’s growing the next generation of environmental changemakers. Through hands-on reforestation projects, school children are cultivating native seedli...

“People are the absolute silver bullet to this whole predator-free thing.” Dan Henry didn’t set out to lead a movement. But when he and a friend began handing out rat traps around their suburb of Miramar, something clicked. No committees. No red tape. Just a simple idea people could say yes to. Predator Free Miramar was born. Over the following 6 years, that idea helped turn an entire urban penins...

Commercial pine forests and kiwi conservation: contradiction or opportunity? “We know kiwi are happy to live in commercial forests. And we know that of New Zealand's landmass, I think it's something like 7% of that landmass is covered in commercial forests of some description.” That’s about 1.8 million hectares of a largely untapped habitat many people overlook! In this episode, forestry specialis...

“I hold hope for the future of kea in that they are smart and adaptable birds, but we really need to act to help them on their way.” And it takes a special kind of people to do exactly that: you need equal parts physical endurance, technical mountaineering expertise, and adaptive problem-solving in some of Aotearoa’s most challenging environments. Picture this: walking a thousand metres straight u...

New Zealand's most intelligent native bird is at risk of fading away, despite being highly visible around tourist hotspots. Kea, the world's only alpine parrot, captivates hearts and minds with their vibrant personalities and remarkable intelligence comparable to that of a four-year-old child. These charismatic birds skillfully navigate harsh mountain environments, yet face a range of threats push...

“If you want to know how many kororā live in New Zealand, go find them.” The world’s smallest penguin species could be vanishing right before our eyes - without enough data to confirm their suspected decline. Kororā (little penguins) are thought to be in trouble throughout Aotearoa, yet we lack the nationwide monitoring to prove it. In this episode of the People Helping Nature Podcast, Hiltrun Rat...

“The Raukūmara was never prioritised. It was forgotten." For generations, local iwi Ngati Porou and Te Whanau-a-Apanui watched their ancestral forest degrade. The Raukūmara reached breaking point. Deer had stripped the understory bare, and possums and rats had multiplied unchecked, reaching catastrophic levels. The question became urgent: how could they save their dying forest? In this episode of...

What if businesses could become a driving force behind positive environmental action, complementing and accelerating conservation efforts worldwide? Despite their significant impact on our planet, less than 10% of small businesses have measured their carbon footprint. The perceived complexity of taking climate action has created a massive barrier - something Carlos Chambers experienced firsthand w...